Pentagon Declines to Say Whether Yemen Fired Missiles at US Ship

The Pentagon declined to say on Monday, October 17 whether the USS Mason destroyer was targeted by multiple inbound missiles fired from Yemen on Saturday, as initially thought, saying a review was under way to determine what happened, Reuters ports.

Any determination that the USS Mason guided-missile destroyer was targeted on Saturday could have military repercussions, since the United States has threatened to retaliate again should its ships come under fire from territory in Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi fighters.

The United States carried out cruise missile strikes against radar sites in Yemen on Thursday after two confirmed attempts last week to hit the USS Mason with coastal cruise missiles.

“We are still assessing the situation. There are still some aspects to this that we are trying to clarify for ourselves given the threat – the potential threat – to our people,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told a news briefing.

Admiral John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, disclosed the latest incident during an event in Baltimore on Saturday, saying the USS Mason “once again appears to have come under attack in the Red Sea.”

Cook noted that the crew aboard the USS Mason detected what appeared to be a missile threat and responded appropriately.

U.S. officials cautioned, however, that details from the incident were still under review. It was unclear how soon a final determination might be made about how many, if any, missiles were actually fired at the USS Mason.

The U.S. cruise missiles launched on Thursday knocked out three coastal radar sites in areas of Yemen controlled by Houthi forces, in Washington’s first direct military action against suspected Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen’s conflict.